1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to translating an abbreviated dialing code into a ten digit number and managing the billing associated with the call.
2. Acronyms
The written description provided herein contains acronyms that refer to various telecommunications services, components and techniques, as well as features relating to the present invention. Although some of these acronyms are known, use of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of the written description herein, acronyms will be defined as follows:                Access Code (AC)        Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)        Automatic Message Accounting (AMA)        Bellcore Automatic Message Accounting Format (BAF)        Carrier Access Billing System (CABS)        Carrier Identification Code (CIC)        Central Office (CO)        Customer Record and Information System (CRIS)        File Transport Protocol (FTP)        Free Billing Table (FBT)        Local Access and Transport Area (LATA)        Integrated Services Digital Network User Part (ISUP)        Interexchange Carrier (IXC)        Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP)        Off-Hook Delay (OHD)        Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)        Public Office Dialing Plan (PODP)        Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)        Service Control Point (SCP)        Service Logic Program Identifier (slpID)        Service Management System (SMS)        Service Switching Point (SSP)        Signal Transfer Point (STP)        Signaling System 7 (SS7)        Transaction Capabilities Applications Protocol (TCAP)        Vertical Service Code (VSC)        Wide Area Network (WAN)        
3. Description of Background Information
National advertisers and companies are continually seeking methods to sell their products to consumers. Putting the consumer in contact with the seller is critical to the relationship between companies and consumers. Previously, companies enticed consumers to call them using 800 or 888 toll free telephone numbers, in which the caller was not charged for the telephone call. However, consumers are not likely to remember the complete 800 or 888 numbers for every company they may wish to contact. As a result, it would be desirable to have an abbreviated dialing code that would allow callers to reach national advertisers.
Consumers would be more likely to place calls to an abbreviated dialing code service if they would incur no costs associated with the calls. Such a service would bring advertisers and consumers together to each other's benefit.
However, a significant problem associated with this type of service includes billing calls originating from various states and LATAs. A solution must be offered to see that charges are incurred by the subscriber offering the abbreviated dialing code service based on the number of calls to the service regardless of the billing system used in the state. It would also be advantageous to allow subscribers to provision call routing and billing information via the Internet.
The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art.